Israel is behind a set of twin car bombings in Damascus on Saturday, Syrian state-run television said Sunday. The blasts killed at least 27 people, Army Radio reported. Israel committed these crimes by use of its agents, said Sheik Abdul-Kader al-Shehabi from Damascus on Sunday, providing no motive, but adding that Israel was created by the devil as a product of his sinful thoughts. Sharing the screen with Shehabi was the Anglican Bishop of Aleppo, Ibrahim Nassir, who shared the sentiment. Army Radio quoted Nassir as saying, This criminal act gives the Israeli entity a real opportunity to extend its control over the region. The two near-simultaneous bombings involved explosives-laden vehicles detonated near heavily guarded intelligence and security buildings in the Syrian capital. The regime blamed the opposition, which denied having a role or the capabilities to carry out such a sophisticated attack. And after other similar attacks, U.S. officials suggested that al-Qaida militants may be joining the fray. The early morning explosions struck the heavily fortified air force intelligence building and the criminal security department, several miles apart in Damascus, around the same time, the Interior Ministry said. Much of the facade of the intelligence building appeared to have been ripped away. State-run news agency SANA said a third blast went off near a military bus at the Palestinian refugee camp Yarmouk in Damascus, killing the two suicide bombers. All our windows and doors are blown out, said Majed Seibiyah, 29, who lives in the area of one of the blasts. I was sleeping when I heard a sound like an earthquake. I didnt grasp what was happening until I heard screaming in the street. The first explosion, around 7 a.m., targeted the air force intelligence building in the residential district of al-Qassaa, a predominantly Christian area. It caused destruction in a 100-meter (100-yard) radius, shattering windows, blowing doors off their hinges and throwing chairs and other furniture off balconies. The last major suicide bombing was on Feb. 10, when twin blasts struck security compounds in the government stronghold of Aleppo in northern Syria, killing 28 people. Damascus has seen three suicide previous bombings since December, hitting intelligence and security buildings. State TV aired gruesome images of the scene on Saturday, with mangled and charred corpses, bloodstained streets and twisted steel. Is this the assistance promised by Qatar and Saudi Arabia- asked one of the injured. The two Gulf powerhouses have been fiercely critical of the Syrian governments crackdown on dissent and have been discussing military aid to the rebels. The U.N. says more than 8,000 people have died since the uprising began a year ago, inspired by Arab Spring revolts across the Middle East and North Africa. A string of previous blasts that struck the capital, also suicide bombings, have killed dozens of people since December. A previously unknown Islamist group calling itself Al-Nusra Front to Protect the Levant claimed responsibility for the previous attacks in a video posted online, saying it carried them out to avenge the people of Homs. Homs is an opposition stronghold in central Syria that has been hard-hit in the government crackdown. Al-Qaidas involvement could further fuel the sectarian tensions that the uprising has already stoked. Al-Qaidas supporters are largely Sunni Muslim extremists. Syrias military and political leadership is stacked heavily with members of the minority Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shiite Islam to which Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and the ruling elite belong. The Alawite leaders of Syria are closely allied with Shiite Iran. Sunnis are the majority in the country of 22 million and make up the backbone of the opposition. A suspected al-Qaida presence creates new obstacles for the U.S., its Western allies and Arab states trying to figure out a way to help push Assad from power. If al-Qaida does interfere, it may also rally Syrian religious minorities, fearful of Sunni radicalism, to get behind the regime. The blasts also raised questions about how suicide car bombers were able to penetrate high-security areas in Damascus. Since the first suicide bombings struck the capital in December, the government has taken exceptional measures around state security and other government institutions and ministries, putting up thick concrete blast walls and checkpoints and guards checking drivers IDs. Bassma Kodmani, a Paris-based member of the opposition Syrian National Council, said she doubted the armed groups trying to bring Assad down by force, such as the rebel Free Syrian Army, have the capacity to carry out such attacks on security institutions in the capital. I dont think any of the opposition forces or the Free Syrian Army has the capacity to do such an operation to target these buildings because they are fortresses, she said by telephone. They are very well guarded. There is no way anyone can penetrate them without having strong support and complicity from inside the security apparatus. The rebel Free Syrian Army, the most powerful armed opposition force, has appealed for the international community to send weapons to help it fight the regime, but have received little response so far. The U.S. and others have not advocated arming the rebels, in part out of fear it would create an even more bloody and prolonged battle. Senior Saudi officials, however, told a French news agency on Saturday that Riyadh was arming the rebels in efforts to topple Assads regime. According to reports in the Arab media, the Saudi officials said that the weapons were being transferred to Syrian rebels via Jordan, and that the Saudi monarchy is convinced that arming the rebels would end the year-long bloodshed in Syria. Riyadh-Damascus relations are currently at an all-time low. The Syrian ambassador has been expelled from Saudi Arabia, and the Saudis recently suspended all diplomatic activity in Syria after having pulled its ambassador last year. Though the Syrian uprising began as mostly peaceful protests, it has becoming increasingly militarized, pushing the country to the brink of civil war. An Interior Ministry statement tied the latest explosions to the recent escalation by regional and international parties, and their open calls for sending weapons to Syria.
